PEOPLE PROFILE:
MECHANICAL DESIGN ENGINEER,
PHIL GOWERS
Areas Of Expertise: Mechanical Design / Product Development
Education: Bachelor of Product Design
Time at Farrat: 12 Months
What is your role at Farrat?
I am a Mechanical Designer at Farrat Isolevel but my role is varied and impacts multiple areas of the business. Recently, I’ve been working on a number of live Structural Vibration Isolation projects, as well as maintaining and updating drawings / models for Farrat’s Machine Mounts, with the aim to improve the overall quality & clarity of their design.
Tell us about your journey to date?
I’ve always been interested in mechanical design and took this through to university level. In 2015, I graduated from the University of South Australia with a Bachelor of Product Design.
Before joining Farrat, I spent 3 years developing modular building systems for offsite construction and lead the product development of a lightweight, flat-pack building system. This background has proven to be key, with many of Farrat’s products targeted at construction applications.
I’ve been at Farrat for 12 months now. After joining Farrat this time last year, I’ve worked on complex vibration isolation projects and made key design changes to help improve product quality across multiple product ranges. I am continuing to work closely with the quality manager to implement process changes aimed at improving the flow of design data throughout the business.
Tell us about your experience as both a team member & a leader, and what it means to you?
Over the past 12 months feel I have become a respected and trusted member of the technical team here at Farrat. I continue to learn a lot from my immediate colleagues and as my knowledge grows with my time at Farrat, I aim to transition myself into a leadership role.
Phil working on optimising the Farrat LA16 Range
What drives you?
I am an ambitious person with the ability to think outside the box. I enjoy providing innovative ideas to solve restrictive design constraints and I believe I thrive in situations which allow me to focus on finding user centric solutions. Furthermore, I enjoy being able to continually develop new and existing solutions for Farrat’s portfolio of products.
I’m always eager to develop new skills and try to surround myself with people who can support this development. Farrat has proven to be an excellent environment for me, where I work alongside both intelligence and experience.
Are there any memorable projects & initiatives that you’ve worked on at Farrat, that you feel has made an impact?
I have been working to support the implementation of a number of major software changes to help the design office become more efficient as a growing company. We’ve introduced a number of products; Autodesk Inventor as our predominant 3D modelling package and Autodesk Vault to fill a critical requirement as an automated CAD data management system. Once these changes have been fully deployed, they will not only help relieve the strain on the design office and add extra capacity, but provide a rigid process structure for design changes & approvals that will benefit many other departments.
I look forward to seeing this in action and observing the benefits across the company.
Why Farrat?
Still being in the relatively early stages of my career, I know the knowledge and training I gain over the coming years will provide a crucial foundation for my future ambitions. I feel that not only can Farrat provide me with this foundation, but also put in place a pathway to help me achieve these career aspirations at Farrat.
If you would like to hear more about Engineering opportunities at Farrat, visit our Careers Page.
Alternately, get in touch with Phil on: +44 (0) 161 924 1600.
